SIX Exchange Group reaches agreement to acquire Aquis for £225 million

One of Europe’s biggest stock exchanges has agreed to buy London-listed Aquis Exchange in a £225m deal.

Swiss firm SIX Exchange Group intends to buy the junior stock market operator at 727 pence per share, a 120 percent premium to Aquis’s closing price on Friday.

SIX believes the acquisition would enhance its ability to serve existing clients with its infrastructure services and “seamless access” to capital markets, while unlocking further growth in new territories.

It also said the deal would “create an increasingly attractive offering” for retail brokers and expand their offering in the traditional primary exchange business, MTF and data offerings.

Headquartered in Zurich, SIX owns the SIX Swiss Exchange, Europe’s third largest stock exchange, and offers banking and securities services as well as real-time financial data for distribution.

The company expects to complete the acquisition of Aquis in the second quarter of next year, subject to shareholder approval.

Bjørn Sibbern, Global Head of Exchanges at SIX, said: ‘We believe that combining Aquis with the SIX platform is a compelling opportunity to bring together two companies with a shared commitment to capital markets innovation.

“The combination will add Aquis’ strong offering to our traditional primary exchange and data businesses, complementing SIX’s existing growing listing segments.”

Founded in 2012, Aquis runs a junior stock market containing high-profile names such as Suffolk brewer Adnams, Arbuthnot Banking Group and mining developer Wishbone Gold.

It also provides exchange technology, including a low-latency matching engine and a single-dealer platform, as well as consulting services.

Since listing on London’s AIM market in 2018, the company’s turnover has soared 495 percent, boosted by the creation of the Aquis exchange. It made a profit of £5.2m last year.

But Aquis bosses said the group’s future would be better under new owners given the highly competitive nature of the European foreign exchange market and the need to invest in technology and distribution.

Alasdair Haynes, its founder and chief executive, said: ‘Aquis has a clear growth path ahead; However, Aquis’ directors recognize that there are always some operational, commercial and market risks associated with the timing of future value creation.

‘The offer de-risks this future value creation and provides Aquis shareholders with some value at a material premium.

Aquis Exchange Shares soared 114.1 per cent to 706.7p by mid-morning on Monday, making it by far the biggest gainer on the AIM All-Share Index.